IUCN NL receives 4.6 million euros for pioneering conservation project ‘Nature’s Heartbeat’

Starting in summer 2025, IUCN NL will embark on a new project called Nature’s Heartbeat. The project will work to embed local conservationists into the fabric of global conservation. The project is made possible thanks to an additional contribution of 4.6 million euros from the Dutch Postcode Lottery. This contribution is in addition to the annual contribution of 1,000,000 euros IUCN NL receives from the Dutch Postcode Lottery.

Header photo: © Stephanie Broekaerts / IUCN NL

The pressure on environmental defenders is increasing dramatically, driven by climate change, political crises, and increasing demand for resources. The impact these people make on the front lines of biodiversity conservation is essential for conservation and restoration on a global level. They are the beating heart of conservation: Nature’s Heartbeat. With this new project, we aim to strengthen the influence of these people and their organisations within the international conservation community.

Grassroots conservation organisations in and around Key Biodiversity Areas fulfil an indispensable role. The people who live and work here go to places where larger (international) organisations often do not have a network or support base or cannot reach for political or security reasons. They are in the capillaries of conservation, which makes them crucial in achieving international biodiversity goals.

The approach of Nature’s Heartbeat

IUCN NL has been supporting various civil society organisations and Indigenous and local communities with capacity building, coaching and funding for many years. We do this together with partner organisations such as Armonia in Bolivia, A Rocha Ghana in Ghana and NTFP-EP in the Philippines. Together with them, Nature’s Heartbeat is building on this strong foundation.
Nature’s Heartbeat is founded on the principles of trust-based funding. We assume trust in the vision, agenda and capacities of conservationists. This trust-based funding, combined with customised capacity building, gives them the opportunity (time and space) to further develop and grow.

Sander van Andel, project leader of Nature’s Heartbeat: ‘Thanks to this extra contribution from the Dutch Postcode Lottery, Nature’s Heartbeat enables us to go a step further in strengthening local conservation organisations – with trust at its base. That sounds obvious, but in the conservation world trust-based funding is certainly not yet commonplace.’

Key Biodiversity Areas

For Nature’s Heartbeat, we selected landscapes in four countries that host important Key Biodiversity Areas. These areas are threatened by a combination of deforestation for agriculture, mining activities and climate change. A lack of good governance and the loss of local knowledge and structures are also affecting the natural areas. All of these are landscapes where we expect to work with three project partners to make a difference for the important and fragile biodiversity conservationists work endlessly to protect.

Investing in the power of small, local nature organisations

Jonne Arnoldussen, managing director Postcode Lottery: ‘IUCN NL has received an annual contribution from the Postcode Lottery since 2000. Like the Postcode Lottery, IUCN NL finances on the basis of trust. This allows local knowledge and expertise to be deployed directly where it is needed most. It is fantastic that, thanks to the participants of the Postcode Lottery, we can contribute extra to Nature’s Heartbeat, allowing local conservationists to continue their work to protect the nature of our planet.’